Page 90

We both gape at him when he replies in perfect Russian, “Back at you, bitch.”

“What the hell?” I say with a wide grin. “When did you learn to speak Russian?”

Sadness and anger fill his eyes and I decide I don’t want to know the answer, because it’s obviously while I was gone, since he couldn’t say more than a few key words – mainly curse words – before.

“You make it sound sexy,” I say before he can answer and turn in his arms to press a soft but passionate kiss to his lips. “We’ll head out. Will one of you pick me up or…?”

“One of us. And a few guards.” He looks at Flora. “You sticking around the house or going home?” I swear it sounds more like he’s telling her to go home rather than actually asking.

She rolls her eyes and says, “I’m going home. I have a team coming to spruce me up.”

I look up at Madd. “Wait…did I hire a stylist? A makeup artist?” I’ve been running around like crazy trying to plan this thing down to every single possible outcome.

Okay. I wasn’t technically running around, considering I’ve been on lockdown at the house other than my two trips to see Nico but I can’t remember whether or not I hired someone to help with my hair or makeup.

Madd’s brows raise, and he shrugs. “How would I know?”

“Shit,” I mutter, pulling my phone from my back pocket and scroll through the endless texts and emails. “I don’t see anything. Shit shit shit.”

“Girl. Relax. I’ll send someone over.”

“The fuck you will,” Maddox says.

“The fuck she will what?” Kato says as he enters the room from a door at our back. The very door I’ll come through for my surprise appearance.

“She’s trying to send some Russki to the house to do E’s hair and makeup.”

Kato frowns. “The fuck you will.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Flora says. Throwing her arms in the air, she says, “Fine. Good luck, Everest. Remember who tried to help when you can’t find anyone last minute.”

But Kato already has his phone out and pressed to his ear. “I got it. Madd, take her out to the SUV. Dimitri and Karolos are waiting.”

“Awesome. My prison wardens will be my escorts today?”

Flora frowns at me and there’s a second I worry she’s taking me seriously and is seconds from calling her dad and the entirety of the Bratva in.

“Inside joke,” I tell her. “You sure you can get someone to the house?” I ask Kato as we make our way to the door.

I mean, I can do my own hair and makeup but there’s something about having a professional who knows how to do the full glam.

“Meet you here tonight?” she asks.

I nod at the door behind us. “I’ll be coming through there if you want to position yourself at a table nearby. Or near the stage. Just…you know. Stay close to your dad and his guards. Just in case.”

“And you’re sure your dad’s coming?”

She’s walking beside me toward the back entrance, her guards trailing behind us while Kato and Madd flank us on either side. There is no one we didn’t hire inside the building, but they’re acting as though I’m under a constant threat.

I suppose I kind of am or will be if the wrong person catches sight of me.

Nah. Even if one of my three husbands doesn’t intervene against anyone meaning me harm, I know one of the Antoniou crew will step in on behalf of their boss.

“Yeah. He and my mom.” The latter’s reaction is the one I’m most interested in at the moment. I know my dad will be shocked, pissed and maybe even a little scared but I still have no idea what my mom knows or believes, whether she gave a shit that I disappeared or if she grieved me if she thought I was dead.

Dimitri stands outside the back door where we exit with Karolos standing in front of the back door to the SUV, his hands clasped in front of him.

“You ever get tired of riding in the back?” I ask Flora as Karo opens the door for me.